The Beekeeper

CHAPTER 3Be Transformational

I was looking forward to my family vacation, which was a time for me to recharge from my busy life running a growing company, being a wife, and mom of two daughters, Lilly and Gabby. I had just celebrated my forty‐third birthday on May 20, and while I felt blessed, something was weighing on me. The stresses of daily life are not uncommon for many families and the social media algorithms seem to have caught onto this, as it appears every video and meme I was seeing prompted a need for more coffee or a relaxing spa getaway. “A warm drink and a spa,” I said dreamily, and closed my eyes.

Although my vacation would have little to do with the spa, the experience would be transformational.

I was just ready to sit down for 20 minutes to decompress from a long day when my kids yelled out, “Mommy, can you come downstairs? We want to talk to you.” Just then, my cell phone pinged from my husband, Tom, who was apparently already down there. His text message forewarned me that the kids had an idea for our upcoming summer family vacation. I appreciated the heads‐up, went downstairs, and hoped there was a spa.

Lilly and Gabby opened a PowerPoint, which was the last thing I wanted to see since running our growing company seems to be rife with presentations, but I sat down and got ready for the pitch. The first slide was a farmhouse. I cried internally, already ...